Why You Don’t Need to Be Depressed that John McCain is Our Next President
Why You Don’t Need to Be Depressed that John McCain is Our Next President

The latest polls rank the candidates neck and neck, or with McCain pulling a slight lead. On top of that, I believe that polls (and the media) traditionally sway Democratic. I believe in closeted racism. I remember how voter registration problems ganked Florida in 2000. I remember that half the country voted for the worst president in history twice, and I know that McCain is a stronger candidate than Bush ever was.

I’ve said it before and I’ll stop saying it now: Obama is a long shot.

But I’ve decided I’m okay with that.

I believe that truth will out and good will triumph. I believe that the human race is evolving socially. I believe that in the next two or three hundred years, we are going to find a new way to exist as humans and a new way to relate to one another. Change may not happen as soon as I would like, but it will happen. It is already happening.

And there is no guarantee that Barack Obama would help that change better than John McCain would. Oh, sure, Obama seems like a more moral man, a man with stronger principles. He seems less likely to turn to war and death as a solution to our nation’s fear. He seems more likely to entertain innovative and game-changing solutions to our ongoing problems. To me, the vote is obvious, and his candidacy has filled me with hope.

But the changes we need don’t happen because one man encourages them. The shepherd guides the sheep, but even he can’t make them grow wool any faster.

One grumpy man can not stand in the way of progress, either. No matter how terrible a leader is, he can not alter humanity’s destiny. Only humanity can do that.

Here’s my resolution. It isn’t new or special, I’ve been grinding on it for some time, but it is the last shred of hope I hold onto for my country, given Obama’s slim chances of being elected:

Politicians are not going to save, or damn, the human race.


Maybe It Doesn't Matter as Much as We Think

Our leaders are a reflection of ourselves. These two candidates, all of Washington, even your boss and his bad habits... all of them simply reflect who and what we are. Bush is a lazy, impulsive, cowardly president, and I believe he was elected because 50% of the time we are lazy, impulsive, and cowardly.

In 2000, we were lazy. In 2004, we were very frightened. So (about) half of us voted for the laziest man who waved the biggest fear stick. Until we rise above that, our leaders will not improve. Don't just look at the isolationists, the intolerant, the red states-- look at the parts of yourself that carry this problem. You can't change the minds of FOX news. The only mind you can change is your own.

Rising above fear doesn’t just mean ending the war on terror by refusing to be terrorized, though that would be a start. Rising above fear means loving our enemies. And I’m talking about Ed in the next cubicle, not an Iranian, though the same principle applies.


Maybe Love is the Answer

The same impulse which gives you road rage, or makes you detest your neighbor for habits that are not all that worse than yours, is the same impulse that put George Bush in office. If we want change, if we never want to see another George Bush in office, we should vote for Obama, certainly. But that’s only a tiny piece of humanity’s puzzle. If you want real change, mow your neighbors lawn for him. And forgive your colleague for failing to respect your PowerPoint presentation. Look within yourself with honesty, forgive yourself for your failure to love, and then change.

Here’s the kicker: McCain would make a better president than George Bush ever could. If he brings his A-game. If he stops pandering. If he makes moral decisions. (And he’s capable of making moral decisions. I will never believe Bush capable of choosing lunch, let along leading our country.) But more importantly: even under McCain, we American citizens can make a better populace than George Bush was ever given to lead, if we bring our A-game.

We are the ones who will change things, not Johnny or Barack. We are the ones who need to stop squandering, stop sitting on our asses, and stop letting fear dominate our decision making.

I believe a change in leadership could help us, I really do.

But no matter who is elected, I know deep down that Barack is just one man. The rest is up to me and my fellow 300 million American citizens... and my fellow 6.7 billion global citizens.